A list of film revivals and the occasional new one, to catch in NYC, mainly Manhattan and Queens. Sometimes reviews of what i see, unless I'm not in the mood. Not every revival, just what I want to see and might be able to catch.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Nov. revivals: first half

Mike here with a list of revivals to catch in the first half of November. A smaller list then usual, but quality beats quantity in this case. Here we go:

TIM BURTON'S THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS- Wed Nov 1 and Thurs Nov 2 at 7 and 9:15 at College Point Multiplex (28-55 Ulmer St. in Whitestone)- plus Fri Nov 3 at 7:30, 8:55, 9:50, 10:55 and 12:05AM, Sun Nov 5 at 5:10, 6, 7:30 and 8:55, and Wed Nov 8 and Thurs Nov 9 at 7:30, 8:55 and 9:50- The Disney animated cult hit is starting to leave now, as I feared. So you only have thru Thursday night for College Point. Definitely another week at Regal Union Square, but after that, I have no clue. Don't let this go away.

A SCANNER DARKLY- Fri Nov 3 at 7:30- AMMI- 35 Ave at 36 St- A chance to catch a probable nominee for best animated film from director Richard Linklater, based on Phillip K. Dick's(Blade Runner, Total Recall) novel. Rotoscope images mostly drawn over film, as Keanu Reeves plays an undercover narc in a near-futuristic L.A. He spies on his drug addict friends (including Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson), but the drugs he takes helps makes things more uh . . ., schizophrenic. May or may not be for everybody's taste, but is part of the conversation for coming up with a top 10 list for 2006.

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN- Fri Nov 3 at Midnight- Landmark Sunshine Cinema- 143 East Houston St bet. 1st and 2nd Ave.- Here's an offbeat film to catch at midnight. Watch as Bud and Lou match match wits (barely) with the Frankenstein monster, The Wolfman (played by Lon Chaney Jr.) and Dracula (played by Bela Lugosi). For years, it was among the biggest hits in Universal Studios history.

AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD- Tues Nov 7 at 7:30 and 9:30- Film Forum- I talked about this in the previous email. This is the only day and times I can make it. This is also the last day it will be playing at the Forum, so let's make this happen.

THE RULES OF THE GAME- Film Forum- Wed Nov 8, Fri Nov 10 and Mon Nov 13- Thurs Nov 16 at 7:30 and 9:40- Always on some list of must see for international films. Never seen it, but would like to. From here on in, I'll just quote the Film Forum website:

(1939) “Everyone has his reasons.” Record-breaking aviator Roland Toutain, fresh from a trans-Atlantic jaunt, addresses a radio audience from the tarmac, lamenting the absence of his lover, to whom he dedicated his flight. Unfortunately she’s Nora Gregor (in real life, fugitive-from-the-Nazis Princess Starhemburg), wife of Marquis Marcel Dalio, who’s got mistress troubles with très sophistiquée Mila Parély. Complicated enough when in Paris, but then the Marquis invites all to a shooting party at his chateau — with the gameskeeper, local poacher and Gregor’s maid adding their own below-stairs triangle. And amid pioneering deep focus photography that keeps multiple intrigues running simultaneously, bullets start flying not just at rabbits and grouse but at people, moving from sophisticated byplay to slapstick farce to tragedy, even with the bumbling Octave (played by director Renoir himself) providing playful, impassioned, and ironic commentary. On most lists of all-time great movies — often as number one — Rules is both a light, even frivolous, comedy of manners and a biting satirical look at a corrupt society under the shadow of war.

And its exhibition history is a drama in itself: trimmed from Renoir’s ideal cut to 94 minutes, it was shortened another 13 minutes after a disastrous premiere (one enraged patron reportedly tried to torch the theater). Two months later, it was banned as “demoralizing” and, later, its negative was destroyed by Allied bombs. Then, in 1959, over 200 boxes of forgotten Rules material was unearthed, resulting in a reconstituted version hailed internationally as a lost masterpiece. But since the 1959 negative, source of all prints until now, was stitched together from multiple versions, the overall quality was a pale shadow of Renoir’s original. Now, thanks to painstaking digital restoration, Rules is at last viewable in a complete 35mm print in all its visual glory.

“As fresh, funny, and poignant as it ever was, and even more mysterious. How did Renoir do it?” – J. Hoberman. “Every viewing is repaid with new strands of the story, new turns of the dialogue, new corridors of meaning — as if they had not been there all along but had grown in the interval between the last time you saw it and this time.” – Luc Sante. “Stands above all other films because, quite simply, it has it all. If one movie can stand for all others, represent all that film can be, that film is The Rules of the Game.” – Paul Schrader.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE- Thurs Nov 9 at 7pm for 6 dollars- Clearview Chelsea Cinema- W.23rd and 8th- The classic dark thriller, where 2 older sisters/actresses/reclusives (I don't know if that's a word but WHATEVER) live out a relationship of envy, revenge and hatred. This was played out by 2 actresses, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford who HATED each other even more offscreen! One of the big hits of 1962, with 5 Oscar nominations, including Best Actress for Davis. And can be seen for only 6 dollars.

Let me know if there's interest. And don't be afraid to click the ads, no matter how bizarre they get. Later.